| Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery | |
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Cap badge of the Royal Australian Artillery |
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| Active | 1 March 1901 – present |
| Country | Australia |
| Branch | Australian Army |
| Type | Artillery |
| Role | Field Artillery (8 regiments) Air Defence (1 regiment) Surveillance and Target Acqusition (1 regiment) |
| Size | 10 regiments |
| Nickname | The 9 Mile Snipers |
| Motto | Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt (Whither right and glory lead) |
| March | Quick – Royal Artillery Quick March Slow – Royal Artillery Slow March |
| Anniversaries | 1 August (Regimental Birthday). |
| Commanders | |
| Captain-General | HM The Queen |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |
Red over blue. |
The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, normally referred to as the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), is a corps of the Australian Army descended from the original colonial artillery units prior to Australia's federation. Australia’s first guns were landed from HMS Sirius and a small earthen redoubt built, near the present day Macquarie Place, to command the approaches to Sydney Cove. The deployment of these guns represents the origins of artillery in Australia. These and subsequent defences, as well as field guns, were operated by marines and the soldiers of infantry regiments stationed in Australia. The first Royal Artillery unit arrived in Australia in 1856 and began a succession of gunner units which ended with the withdrawal of the imperial forces in 1870 resulting in the raising of 'A' Field Battery, NSW Artillery in 1871. The First World War saw the raising of 60 field, 20 howitzer and two siege batteries along with the heavy and medium trench mortar batteries. Until 19 September 1962 the Australian Artillery was referred to as the 'Royal Australian Artillery', however on this date HM Queen Elizabeth II granted the RAA the title of the 'Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery'. The Regiment today consists of Regular and Reserve units:
| Australian Army Arms and Services |
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| Combat Arms |
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| Combat Support Arms |
| Combat Services |
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| Training Corps |
Contents |
Unlike their British and Canadian relations, there are no regiments of horse artillery in the order of battle of the Royal Australian Artillery. The Australian Regular Army came into being in 1947 and prior to this artillery units were predominately militia based. The one permanent artillery unit was 'A' Field Battery which formed on 1 August 1871. Prior to the Second World War specialist coastal artillery units were established at strategic locations around the coastline, however these were progressively phased out by the 1950s. During the Second World War, the RAA raised some 50 regiments of anti-tank, anti-aircraft, field, medium and coastal units with all units engaged in combat throughout the war.
The present School of Artillery (completed in 1998) is located in Puckapunyal in central Victoria and maintains modern training facilities. The School of Artillery is co-located with the Australian Army's Headquarters Combined Arms Training Centre. Major units of the Royal Australian Artillery include:
The Royal Australian Artillery coordinates and plans Joint Offensive Support for the Australian Defence Force and is presently studying options that will see significant changes in its structure for the future. The RAA applies the latest technologies to maximise the effectiveness of the extant fleet of towed guns. The RAA is further studying options to upgrade and update ammunition and fuzes to be used with the present and future gun fleets.
There are no present plans for expansion of the RAA as part of the Army's Hardened and Networked Army project. However the Australian Army will invest considerably in the re-equipment, restructuring and re-rolling of various RAA units. Current Australian Army planning calls for Regular Army RAA units to be structured and equipped with highly mobile, longer ranging and less manpower intensive weapon systems that are to be fully digitally networked by 2012.
This programme is examining new systems with a view to replacement of all 155 mm M198 medium guns and 105 mm L119 and M2A2 field guns as well as the adoption of an integrated digital fire control network structure.[1] The project has A$ 1.5 billion dollars allocated for the purchase of new guns, through life support and maintenance, replacement infrastructure, retraining of personnel and provision of simulation and training systems and joint fires command and control. However, Land 17 does not allow for the purchase of new guns in sufficient quantity to re-equip the Army Reserve. Army Reserve Artillery Batteries will be re-equipped with 81mm or 120mm Mortars. Contenders for Land 17 gun replacement were:
SP Guns:
Towed Gun Replacement:
Ground Based Air Defence has recently been equipped with additional RBS-70 systems and a significant upgrade of radar and monitoring systems. This project is forecast to meet the Army's needs until 2015 where future forecast planning calls for a significant upgrade of the longer ranging air defence capability from 2018.
The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery is the only British Commonwealth Artillery Corps to have been presented with The Banner of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen’s Banner was presented to the Regiment on the 1 August 1971, replacing the King's Banner. The silver plaque fixed to the banner pike reads “ Presented by her most gracious majesty Queen Elizabeth II Captain General of The Royal Australian Artillery to replace the banner by his majesty king Edward VII and in the honour of the Centenary of the Regiment 1971.
The King's Banner was presented in November 1904 by the Governor General Lord Nortcote. The silver plaque reads “Presented by his gracious majesty the king Emperor to the Royal Australian Artillery in recognition of the services rendered to the Empire in South Africa 1904”. The artillery unit that served in the war was A Field Battery, NSW Regiment RAA.[2]
| Preceded by Royal Australian Armoured Corps |
Australian Army Order of Precedence | Succeeded by Royal Australian Engineers |